Police have been forced to apologise to two 13-year-old girls for accusing them of stealing make-up worth more than £400 by distributing CCTV images of them online.

Francesca Galelli and Molly Curtis were left in tears when images of themselves were published on local news websites as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

They became the prime suspects of the £459 theft from Superdrug in Ely, Cambridgeshire, after innocently shopping in the store on April 4.

I asked them to take it down, because I didn't want a bad reputation for nothingMolly

They have now received an apology from police, who admitted they had made "an honest mistake that had deeply unfortunate circumstances".

Speaking about the incident, Francesca said she was initially notified when a friend got hold of her on Instagram to ask if it was her.

She said: "I was getting some shopping and then I went round my friend's house. I got a message on Instagram from someone asking 'is this you?' and then I went on Facebook and it was all over there, too."

Molly was also left embarrassed by the situation. She said: "I was at home and I got a message on social media saying 'this looks like you - is it you?' I asked them to take it down, because I didn't want a bad reputation for nothing."

The police alert shortly after the thefts, which was issued with CCTV images of Francesca and Molly, read: "Officers have released CCTV images of four women they would like to speak to in connection with the theft of make-up.

"On April 4, £459 worth of make-up was stolen from Superdrug in Market Place, Ely at about 3:15pm.

"It is believed the women entered the store and placed various coloured lipsticks in a bag before making off."

Francesca's sister, 21-year-old Claudia, said her younger sibling came home crying after friends at Soham Village College showed her the news stories that appeared online with her picture.

She said: "I saw the article and I thought 'oh that looks like my sister', but I just thought she would never do anything like that so I just scrolled past it, but I later got a phone call and learned friends at school had shown her the story.

"It was really horrible for her. She is so young, she is such a good person, who never does anything wrong, she is the perfect student. This was really upsetting for her.

"When I spoke to her about it she said, 'I don't know what to do'. I told her to just tell people the truth - she did not do it.

I saw the article and I thought 'oh that looks like my sister', but I just thought she would never do anything like that so I just scrolled past itClaudia Galelli

"The worst thing for her was everybody looking at her at school and making comments, but she is a strong person and held her head up high."

Sylvia Reyes, an educational psychologist, said: "A couple of issues come to mind around this, include the issue of humiliation and shame, these are the two emotions which have the greatest effect on people.

"It will affect their self-esteem and the way people think about them which is something teenagers are very concerned about.

"They are more likely to feel rage and will either internalise or externalise this feeling, teenagers have a very acute sense of justice they respond very strongly to injustice in their lives, in worst case scenarios this can start self-harming - it depends on what social support they have around them."

Ms Reyes who has been in the profession for 30 years said she was shocked the police released images of children in this case.

She said: "They should make sure they are not distributing images of children, they can't assume they are women, it is shocking actually."

Speaking on behalf of the East Cambridgeshire policing district, Sgt Phil Priestley said: "We made an honest mistake that had deeply unfortunate circumstances.

"We always want to be clear and transparent if we get things wrong, and we definitely want to ensure that people know that Francesca and Molly are good people and that this wasn't their fault."

The error has also led to police revising district CCTV policies to prevent further mistakes in the future.

By way of an apology, the police have invited Francesca and Molly to sit on a new Youth Consultation Panel designed to improve and promote the relationship that exists between local police and young people aged 12 to 16.